Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a big game with a big fanbase.
Like any sandbox game, creativity comes with the territory.
And that means loads of neat ideas online.
From gardens to interiors to entrances, we’ve curated a lot of ACNH inspiration galleries. But what if we organized a huge list featuring the best-of-the-best?
That’s our goal here: a master list of the coolest build ideas in New Horizons.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, all I want is to go on a cute picnic.
And here’s a great spot to have one on your island!
Plenty of flowers, both growing and arranged, make this a cheerful bright spot.
An open picnic basket, a variety of fruits, and a lunch bag provide all the snacks you’ll need to have your villagers or friends join you for a bite to eat.
And with the nature and bright sun, it’s sure to be a good time.
And sometimes, that means making it pirate themed!
Buckle your swashes and grab a bottle of rum, because this is the perfect pirate hideaway with a cloth tent, swaying palm trees, and even a big chest of booty.
No jolly roger? No problem!
Thanks to that Mario promotional update Nintendo gave us, you can totally get away with a Bowser goal pole flag instead.
48. Whimsical Jungle Path
Image Source by @animalcrossing_alldesigns & u/Orangupang84
Here’s an uber-colorful idea for that awkward pathway you just don’t know what to do with!
This would make the best beach path, what with its custom walkway and ALL of the flowers, thank you very much.
Add some palm trees, bamboo, and whatever else you like, and voila!
Here’s an idea offering the perfect spot to have a bonfire with your friends.
This player embraced some realism and the fact that beaches really are not often perfectly clean by adding a washed up tire, some weeds, and even a rowboat.
Invite your online pals to shoot the breeze over some s’mores or a cold pop. There’s plenty of space for everyone!
This design is a very Jane-Austen looking garden, with its mix of pumpkins, bushes, and flowers.
The stone pathway and fountain are great touches, but the absolute best thing is hands down the duck.
Having regular trees but also potted plants, like monsteras, help to give this build interesting levels and depth – and keeps it from looking too neat and uniform.
The outside areas on your island are important, of course…
But we can’t forget about the inside of our houses!
This gorgeous sitting room has a white theme that makes it look bright and open.
With details like a gramophone, piano, and teddy bear friends, it’s a gorgeous spot to just sit and relax, and maybe catch up with friends over tea and cookies.
For those of you that like dresses as much as I do, this idea is definitely something to jump on.
Especially since one of the most fun customization options in this game is the ability to design and wear our own clothes.
This player made an outdoor gown shop for their custom designs. The color scheme, items, and dresses all blend together gorgeously – and look perfect against the custom backdrop.
A few candles would provide a lovely glow for nighttime shopping, too!
Normally when you think bees, you think yellow or orange, right?
Not with this apiary!
This apiary uses red bee houses and red flowers for their décor.
A great idea to add to an awkward little corner of your island that frankly, you just don’t know what to do with. And maybe you already have enough gardens (if there is such a thing!)
There’s lots of space for everyone at this big table.
Enjoy breakfast with friends and villagers at this darling riverside spot that you could easily re-create yourself.
Whether you’re cooking up waffles, pancakes, or a proper English breakfast, you’re sure to have people running for a bite with the warm smells of fresh cooking.
And speaking of fresh, if you’re a fruit in the morning kind of person, pluck yourself a pear from the nearby tree. Easy as that!
The mismatched seating is an adorable touch to this build, and also helps to make it an approachable choice for new players.
Use whatever chairs or DIYs you have to recreate this – whatever works.
Whether you get a lot of visitors on your island or you just like the look of a commercial beach, this is a great build to add to your island.
Toss all the extra rugs you bought from Sahara that didn’t fit your house vibe on the sand as makeshift beach blankets, and add a few umbrellas for shade.
Palm trees add some greenery, and beach items like a ball and sandcastle, surfboards, and shower stalls are also great additions.
Just one glance and I can tell this is a really cool build.
This player uses a bunch of bunk beds, some terraforming, and a flight of stairs to replicate the feel of a treehouse.
If I had one of these as a kid, I don’t think my mom would have ever gotten me inside!
It’s a great place to hang out with the buds, as there’s a super cozy couch, a desk for studying, and of course, enough beds for everyone for a mega sleepover under the stars.
Just don’t shake that tree without a net in hand. A wasp attack up there could be deadly.
This one replicates a canyon with a LOT of well-placed rocks.
A few flowers add a pop of color here too, without overwhelming the design too much.
Terraforming is an important part of making this build work. Without it, things would look too flat and awkward. So it really is important to have those levels.
This would be a great idea to tackle if you have another build behind some cliffs, like a secret beach or something…
It’s messy in the best way, with personal items like a football, books, and other things littered around the floor.
A teddy bear keeps watch over the lucky dreamer, who’s surely checking out all sorts of nifty dream addresses.
If you like the stars, this is certainly the bedroom build for your home, since you have a nicely-placed telescope ready for you to inspect the mighty cosmos.
Also, is it just me or is that the comfiest looking bed ever?
This gorgeous little shop sells all sorts of kimonos and yukatas for every occasion.
Beautiful displays of dresses are framed by stalls with cherry blossoms and classic paintings. It’s a bright, classy spot, and well suited to a commercial area – if you have one.
I absolutely adore this little pond build, just because of the sheer level of detail.
There’s ducks, turtles, fish, and plenty of flowers and plants.
It works really well because of all the customization.
By doing custom tiles, you could put whatever animals they could design into the ‘pond’, which looks more detailed than just using the water terraforming tool.
Not to mention this would be a super fun spot to go insect hunting.
This player recreated Sophie Hatter’s work station from Howl’s Moving Castle.
Being a milliner is hard work, but hats off to those who can get it done!
You can replicate this by simply loading as many hats as possible onto a wooden table in front of the window, so it’s a great idea for newer and veteran players alike.
This build feels more like a hidden Easter egg for animation fans…
Go far enough into the woods on this island, and in the middle of this player’s forest is a sleeping Totoro.
This is achieved through custom tiles, of course.
Filling up the area with plenty of trees and flowers helps, but also letting weeds grow a little is a good idea too. It’s important to hide the design until you really stumble across it.
But no matter how you’d wanna build yours, this is a super fun idea.
Mushrooms and stumps also help to make it look like a natural forest.
Make your little witch or wizard happy with an alchemy lab like this one.
It’s full of spooky items like beakers of strange liquids, a crystal ball, and a skull. These all help set the mood for some potion crafting and spell casting.
Have you got a tarot set lying around? Feel free to add that in, or whatever else you like!
There’s space for spare witch hats above the mantle, as well as on the bookshelves, so feel free to get creative.
If you love pastel colors or mermaids, then this is a great build idea to try out.
Mermaid items can be found through diving and finding a scallop, which can be traded to Pascal for pearls (which are needed to craft the items) and DIYs.
Make use of all the cardboard boxes that pile up in the lost and found in Resident’s Services, as well as spare fish in tanks, to make an abandoned shipping yard just like this.
When was the last time someone checked in on this place?
Who knows, but visitors will love stumbling across this super cool idea.
